Los Angeles County

It's known in many circles as a "quiet crisis" -- a surging population of older Americans over the next 15 years. And for those who serve the homeless in Los Angeles, that portends a dramatically worsening situation. The nonprofit Shelter Partnership spent the last two years studying the plight of Los Angeles County's homeless elderly -- a population, it concluded, of 3,000 to 4,000. The study, which is being released today, marks the first time that the region's elderly homeless population has been studied.

Citing the time saved for Los Angeles County drivers who were willing to pay an extra fee, transportation officials Thursday unanimously approved extending the life span of 25 miles of experimental toll lanes on the 110 and 10 freeways. Elected officials and Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority staff members said Thursday that tolling provided a new option for commuters crawling along a 900-mile freeway network that is largely built out. "People point out often that 'freeways mean free,'" Metro board member and Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, whose district includes the 10 Freeway toll lanes, said during a discussion Thursday.

A Superior Court judge issued a final written ruling Monday ordering Orange County's legal case seeking to roll back deputies' pensions to be handled in the Los Angeles County courts. Judge Thierry P. Colaw agreed with an argument by Orange County's public employee retirement board that the case could not be tried in Orange County because it involved a dispute between two public agencies within the county, and concurred that Los Angeles would be a "neutral county" close enough to be convenient for all parties in the case.

SAN FRANCISCO -- State Treasurer Bill Lockyer announced the approval Thursday of $75.3 million in grants that aim to stabilize residents with severe mental illness before they land in jail or suffer multiple hospitalizations. The 20 grants will go to 28 counties for new or expanded services. They will add 827 residential mental health beds and crisis "stabilization" beds, and pay for more than three dozen vehicles and five dozen staff members for mobile support teams, which often accompany local law enforcement to defuse tense situations and direct those in need to care.

Two men were in custody Friday as the suspected gunmen who shot an unarmed, off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy execution-style during a robbery of a hair salon in Buena Park. The deputy, 26-year-old Shayne York of Valencia, remained in critical condition late Friday with major brain damage. His family was grappling with the decision whether to disconnect a breathing apparatus that was keeping him alive, authorities said.

A federal grand jury has indicted a Montebello firearms dealer and a former narcotics investigator as part of its continuing probe of corruption within the narcotics bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The nine-count indictment, announced Tuesday, charges that gun dealer George Papac laundered money stolen by narcotics investigators by buying cashier's checks.

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has already spent $50,000 trying to make the 405 Freeway better - and he's willing to pay even more. Musk said he is open to pay the cost of adding workers to the widening project "as a contribution to the city and my own happiness. If it can actually make a difference, I would gladly contribute funds and ideas. I've super had it. " In July, the PayPal and Tesla Motors co-founder met David Murphy, a Westwood resident who heads Angelenos Against Gridlock, a group seeking to hasten the development and repair of infrastructure in California and nationwide.

While gang wars raged on the streets of Los Angeles, a little noticed though violent series of attacks broke out among members of the Crips gang imprisoned on San Quentin's Death Row, prison officials say. The battle reached its height last October when Tiequon A. Cox, who was in the Rolling 60s faction of the Crips in Los Angeles, stabbed and wounded Stanley (Tookie) Williams, a body builder who helped found the gang 20 years ago. Williams has denied any continuing role in Crip activity on or off the row. And Colleen E. Butler, Cox's attorney, noted that in prison, "what appears to be the case is not always what happened."

The entertainment industry in Los Angeles County has lost more than 9,000 jobs since 2007. The data comes from a report by Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. that measures the scope of California's entire "creative economy," which includes industries such as architecture, digital media and fashion along with entertainment. Creative industries contributed $273 billion to the California economy, accounting for nearly 8% of the gross state product in 2012. ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll In Los Angeles County, entertainment alone accounted for 132,900 jobs in 2012, down nearly 6.6% over the previous five years. Within the industry, movie and video production -- which accounts for the bulk of entertainment employment -- posted the biggest decline, down by 7,800 jobs, or 7.2%, since 2007.

An 18-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition Sunday after nearly drowning in a Los Angeles County pool, a city fire official said. The man, who has not been identified, had been swimming at the Jesse Owens Community Regional Park pool on South Western Avenue and West Century Boulevard when lifeguards pulled him out about 4:10 p.m., according to Katherine Main of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Main said the man was not breathing and had no pulse when he was rescued by lifeguards, who initiated CPR. Andre Herndon, spokesman for the L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation, said officials were investigating what happened.

A consultant hired by Los Angeles County to develop a longterm plan for the county's aging jail facilities laid out options for a roughly $2-billion proposed overhaul of the jail system in a report released Wednesday. The county supervisors, concerned about deteriorating facilities and poor living conditions for inmates with mental health issues, want to tear down the aging Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles and replace it. The new facility would be primarily focused on housing inmates with physical and mental health needs and substance abuse issues.

Two former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have been charged with planting guns at a medical marijuana dispensary to arrest two men, one of whom prosecutors said was sentenced to a year in jail before the bad evidence was discovered. Julio Cesar Martinez, 39, and Anthony Manuel Paez, 32, face two felony counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice and altering evidence, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office announced Wednesday. Martinez was charged with two additional felony counts of perjury and one count of filing a false report.

A 21-year-old woman who struck a group of cyclists in Boyle Heights while driving intoxicated, leading to the death of one who was dragged several hundred feet by a following car, was sentenced to three years, eight months in prison Tuesday. Wendy Stephanie Villegas pleaded no contest in March to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence causing injury in the death of 22-year-old Luis "Andy" Garcia. Prosecutors say Villegas was driving on Sept.

The first comprehensive analysis of Los Angeles County's experimental toll lanes indicates the pay-to-drive routes made some rush-hour commutes faster and less painful, both in the toll lanes and in the free lanes, but made little to no difference for many drivers battling morning traffic. According to an independent report prepared for federal transportation officials, the toll lanes along the 110 and 10 freeways didn't significantly change overall traffic speeds during peak periods for drivers using either the tollway or the general lanes.

In the battle for tourists, Los Angeles is losing ground to rivals Orlando, Fla., New York, and Chicago. L.A. County has broken its own record for annual visitors three years in a row - thanks to a rebounding economy, sunny California weather and popular tourist attractions. But L.A.'s tourist numbers are not growing fast enough to keep up with the nation's top three destinations, primarily because the city lacks enough hotel rooms to host more tourists. "We have an awful lot of things that are in our favor," said Robert Kleinhenz, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

The oil and gas industry creates about 49,000 jobs in Los Angeles County and billions of tax revenue in California. That's according to a new report conducted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. and commissioned by the trade group Western States Petroleum Assn., which takes a look at the role of oil and gas on the Golden State economy in 2012. In the county of Los Angeles, more than 17,000 people are employed in oil and gas extraction, while an additional 12,000 work at gas stations, the report said.

February 4, 2014 | By Abby Sewell, This post has been corrected. See below for details.

Los Angeles County's supervisors agreed Tuesday to explore a long-term partnership with Homeboy Industries, a 25-year-old program that helps former gang members transition into a new life. The nonprofit organization has hit financial difficulties, in part because of a dramatic reduction in government funding of its programs. The organization laid off about 40 people last fall and may have to cut another 60 jobs this year due to a projected $1 million drop-off in revenues. The county has given the group about $2 million in discretionary grants in recent years, according to a memo from Supervisor Don Knabe's office, but does not have an ongoing contract with Homeboy for services.

The chief assumption underlying James Flanigan's Aug. 4 column ("Garment Industry Awaits Welfare Recipients") is fundamentally flawed. He argues that sweatshops flourish in Third World countries because U.S. retailers want to offer American consumers low-priced goods. Nike is but one giant corporation shopping around the world for cheap labor. This Oregon-headquartered firm doesn't produce a single shoe in the U.S. Instead its payroll for 12,000 workers in Indonesia was $5 million in 1994.

Gang prosecutor Elan S. Carr, a Republican in the crowded race to succeed retiring Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), on Monday became the first of the candidates to start airing campaign ads on cable TV. The 30-second spot, dubbed "Doing What's Right," introduces the first-time candidate by highlighting his experience as a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who has "put hundreds of violent criminals behind bars. " "But we need to keep kids out of gangs in the first place," Carr says in the ad, "with more after-school programs, job training and better schools.